The monthly wader count on Saturday (19th) at Sabaki River Mouth 
produced some interesting stuff. Main points of interest were large 
numbers (c.2000) of White-cheeked Terns many of them in a substantial 
percentage of breeding plumage - which makes them a lot easier to ID! 
There was also a marked lack of Little Stint - we only counted 6 in 
total whereas by now I would expect to have numbers into the 1000s. Also 
not bad numbers of Broad-billed Sand: 33. No pratincoles at all was also 
odd - neither Common nor Mad. I have a strong feeling that Mad Prats 
have significantly decreased over the years - I'll need to dig into my 
notebooks to verify this.

Two Barn Swallows crossed the estuary heading south which are my first 
for around here.

In Watamu, a steady stream of migrating terns moving south along the 
beach the past week. This morning the flock I saw were entirely 
White-cheeked but there have also been a lot of Common Terns. The oddest 
record was an immature Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon that we caught at 
Mwamba (the A Rocha Field Study Centre) on the 4th Sept... presumably a 
dispersing juv from the Usambaras?

In Arabuko-Sokoke, Clarke's Weavers have been reported from inside the 
Mixed Forest near Gede forest station - unusual as they are normally 
only found in Brachystegia. The Pallid Honeyguides still call from the 
very same Eucalypt on the edge of the Gede Plantation as they have done 
since 1998 and we re-trapped a Grey-backed Camaroptera that I ringed in 
Oct 1998 - looking just as healthy and strong as the immature bird we 
ringed!

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¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
Colin Jackson
A Rocha Kenya
Christians in Conservation
PO Box 383
Watamu, 80202
Kenya

http://www.arocha.org / http://www.assets-kenya.org
Blog: http://arochakenya.wildlifedirect.org

eml: colin.jackson@arocha.org

M: +254 (0)722 842366
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